Review | Berlin 2024: Above the Dust – Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai evokes Christopher Nolan in history-minded rural drama
- Above the Dust follows 10-year-old Wo Tu, who lives in a village in northeast China and wants his father to return home, hopefully bringing him a water pistol
- He embarks on a surreal journey through his dead grandfather’s memories from the 1950s, looking at his appalling actions through Christopher Nolan-like scenes
3.5/5 stars
Chinese filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai has dedicated a lot of his career to hard-hitting dramas about the drastic social and historical changes of his country. Who would have thought his latest film would lead to comparisons with Christopher Nolan’s blockbusters?
But that’s what Above the Dust entails, as its young protagonist’s dreams take the shape of an Inception-like journey through his recently deceased grandfather’s long-submerged, guilt-ridden memories of his life – including a key scene, à la Interstellar, in which he peers through a window frame to observe some of the old man’s appalling misdeeds.
What remains unchanged, however, is Wang’s determination to evoke obscured historical traumas that remain influential in shaping China’s national psyche today.
Above the Dust revolves around Wo Tu (Ouyang Wenxin), a 10-year-old living in a dusty, impoverished village in northwestern China. While not contending with sandstorms or helping his mother (Yong Mei) with housework, the boy yearns for just one thing: a plastic water pistol which would allow him to bond with his friends.
